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All Rise...

Appellate Judge James A. Stewart can't get too excited about music stars who can't do a weather forecast.

The Charge

"It's not surprising that, over the years, when I met somebody who told me
they had a personal story about themselves and The Beatles, I was all
ears."—Seth Swirsky

The Case

In 2004, Seth Swirsky, himself a musician, started videotaping stories about
people who encountered The Beatles. Just in case you're that rare person who
thinks I'm talking about Volkswagens, The Beatles was a band consisting of John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. As you watch
Beatles Stories, you can't possibly fail to realize that they were
the band for those who were teens or young adults during their short
career together. Even other musicians of note—Art Garfunkel, Peter Noone
of Herman's Hermits, and Smokey Robinson, to name but a few—get excited
about meeting The Beatles as they talk with Swirsky.

Some interviews hit home how much The Beatles have meant to our culture,
then and now: Davy Jones of The Monkees, Mitzi McCall, and Charlie Brill recall
being on The Ed Sullivan Show the night of The Beatles' first appearance;
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay shows off George Harrison's very collectible
guitar; and a celebrity fundraiser clip with Jack Benny, the perpetual
thirty-nine-year-old teenybopper, talking about his Beatles fandom.

At the same time, a few interviews remind viewers The Beatles may have been
legends, but were ordinary blokes, too. Henry Winkler tells the story of the
time Paul McCartney recognized him as The Fonz from Happy Days on the street; Frank Gifford
recalls seeing John Lennon meet future President Ronald Reagan at a football
game; singer/songwriter Jackie de Shannon recalls forgetting a riff from her own
song when George Harrison asked about it, and ending up playing Monopoly with
him; and Philadelphia newscaster Larry Kane recalls the time John Lennon showed
up to do the weather.

You'll get glimpses of Swirsky's own enthusiasm for The Beatles during
Beatles Stories, as when he tries Harrison's guitar, but that enthusiasm
really shows throughout the commentary, as does his commitment to tracking down
every lead. Also here are bonus stories (including a paleontologist's
explanation of how the first female got named for "Lucy in the Sky with
Diamonds" that really should have made it into the documentary), an extended
interview with sound engineer Norman "Normal" Smith, and a trailer. There's
around an hour of bonus material.

Presented in standard definition 1.78:1 widescreen, Swirsky shot these
stories on videotape with mostly natural or available light, which isn't perfect
but at times lends an intimate personal feel. The Dolby 2.0 Stereo track is
perfectly adequate for a talking head presentation.

For Beatles fans, the case is simple: it's Beatles Stories. For
someone who likes The Beatles but grew up after their breakup, the expressions
and voices of the storytellers will fill you in on how big they were.